WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (AZ-08) released the following statement on the one-year anniversary of the attacks on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021:

“I strongly condemn the violence and destruction that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. I applaud the U.S. Capitol Police for doing the best they could on that day, given there was not a sufficient security plan in place to protect the Capitol.

January 6^th was an avoidable security failure that we can never allow to happen again. It is unacceptable that one year later the American people still do not have an answer as to why the Capitol was left so vulnerable.

On January 6^th, I was watching from my Washington, D.C. office across the street from the Capitol because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi only wanted those speaking in the proceedings to be on the House Floor. For several days in advance, I had been preparing my office and staff. We stocked food, and I told my staff they should be prepared to spend the night. I suspected that demonstrators might block access for me and my staff to get home after the vote to certify the election. I didn’t have any special intelligence; I just used my common sense. I assumed Speaker Pelosi and law enforcement leadership would have been prepared too. I assumed that they would have a plan in place to protect the U.S. Capitol, but that obviously was not the case.

It is infuriating to me that Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats are wasting time and taxpayer money on a political witch hunt instead of investigating the U.S. Capitol security failures and ensuring a security breach like this does not happen again. It is telling that most of the hundred-plus security recommendations provided by the Inspector General have not been implemented yet.

The most important question to answer from January 6^th remains: why was the U.S. Capitol left so vulnerable and unprepared and how are we going to fix it?"

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